The war began at 3:40 a.m. Zelensky, wearing a white shirt, declared: "Let's fight" - Danilov

IRINA BALACHUK - FRIDAY, 22 APRIL 2022, 09:40

OLEKSIY DANILOV. PHOTO BY DMYTRO LARIN, UKRAINSKA PRAVDA

Secretary of Ukraine National Security and Defence Council(RNBO) Oleksiy Danilov recalled that Russia's invasion of Ukraine began at 3:40 a.m. in the Milove area of Luhansk region, and at about 5 a.m. the offensive started everywhere.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda interview with Danilov

Quote: "The invasion began at 3:40 a.m. in the Milove area of Luhansk region, but we thought that they were entering the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. We believed that their goal after the recognition of the "republics" was to incorporate them within the regional borders.

But then, an hour and twenty minutes later, the offensive began everywhere. I immediately arrived  to see the president. Denis Monastyrsky [the Minister of Internal Affairs] was already there. I was the second to arrive. Volodymyr Oleksandrovych [Zelenskyy] was wearing a white shirt, and it was, you know ... such a memorable moment ...

He says, ‘Well? Let's fight!’ "

Details: Next, according to Danilov, an urgent meeting of the National Security and Defence Council was convened at 5:30 a.m. All draft decisions were prepared.

Danilov said that on 23 February there had been a meeting of the Security Council about the imposition of a state of emergency, where proposals to impose martial law had already been made, but they did not want to provoke Russia.

The Secretary of RNBO added that earlier at a meeting with the heads of all factions, members of parliament had considered each item, and he had told them that today they were splitting hairs, but "tomorrow we will have to make a completely different decision."

Danilov noted that when he presented the presidential decree and the decision of the National Security and Defence Council on martial law to the parliament on 24 February, the hall was "tense and electrified", because in the first days of the war "a lot of decisions are made: one person wants to run away, another wants to export some of their wealth urgently".

He also recalled that the first information about the plans to assassinate the president had been received as early as 22 February. Zelensky had reacted to this with the words "What, again?", And Danilov had asked him not to joke, because the threat was serious.

According to Danilov, he spoke with the president on the same day and it was clear to him that Zelensky was not leaving Kyiv for anywhere else. The president said he could not give up, so come what may, they would stay in the capital.

Danilov stressed that there had been very many proposals for Zelenskyy to leave the city. Also a number of other centres had been prepared, from where you could run the country and make decisions.

Danilov added that before the Russian attack, the authorities had also made sure that there would be uninterrupted communication during the war, that people would have access to information and that there would be no panic due to the lack of it.

He noted that additional communication equipment received from the partners had been distributed on the day of the invasion.

Danilov also said that about a week before the war, they discussed  how the ministries would work and where they would be located if the situation became critical at a joint meeting with Prime Minister Denis Shmygal.

The salary of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was also discussed in advance.

On 24 February, after the vote on martial law, the president invited all faction leaders to his place and called on everyone to forget any disagreements and work as a team.

And then there were several urgent legal consultations with all the Heads of Regional State Administrations, who had already become Heads of Military Administrations.

These meetings were held at 9 a.m., 12 noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., and, according to Danilov, they showed that all regional leaders were at their workplaces.